As e-commerce bites into many box retailers’ expansion plans, one category appears resistant to the pinch: sporting goods.

“Computers, electronics, office supplies — almost all those guys are shrinking in both footprints and store counts,” said Garrick Brown, director of research for ChainLinks Retail Advisors and Terranomics. “Sporting goods is growing bigger and bigger.”

Sales of sporting goods in the U.S. reached $59.2 billion in 2012, up from $52.2 billion in 2008, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. That comes as participation in sports grew. Hiking, fishing and hunting all posted gains, according to NSGA, which polls on people’s sports habits annually.

Silicon Valley’s get-outside culture positions the area to capture a piece of the trend, observers said. In recent months, retailers including PGA Tour Superstore, Sports Basement, Bass Pro Shops and Dick’s Sporting Goods have expanded in or entered the region.

“We’ve got an unbelievably good market,” said Bob Berndt, a senior vice president with SRS Real Estate Partners who represents Recreational Equipment Inc., commonly known as REI, in the Bay Area.

“The fact is that skiing, backpacking, and mountain biking is so fantastic here. You name it, we’ve got access to it,” he said.

Still, low vacancy for existing box space, and a relative lack of new retail projects, means a competitive environment for new retailers trying to break into the region.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is reportedly still trying to gain a foothold in the Valley after losing out to Bass Pro Shops, which signed a deal for 145,000 square feet at the planned Almaden Ranch center in San Jose. Terranomics’ Brown said he expects the Pennsylvania-based retailer to eye some of the Orchard Supply Hardware stores that will go dark following that company’s bankruptcy reorganization. Dick’s just opened its first Bay Area store in Dublin last May. The chain of 50,000- to 80,000-square-foot stores plans 40 new stores in the next 12 months, according to ChainLinks.

John Machado, a veteran retail broker with Colliers International, said he’s surprised more sporting goods retailers haven’t come here, given the area’s demographics.

“There’s demand,” he said. “You’ve got an educated population with discretionary income. There’s a lot of dollars here.”

Experts pin the sector’s brick-and-mortar staying power on a few reasons. For one thing, consumers are still reluctant to buy sporting goods online, unlike books or electronics. Those sectors have been disrupted by competition from retailers like Amazon.com.

Take golf, for example. “Clubs are expensive, and for some reason people just like to try it out in person,” Brown said.

PGA Tour Superstore illustrates the trend. The retailer, which is majority owned by Home Depot co-founder and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur M. Blank, opened its second West Coast store in April in East Palo Alto, taking over a Best Buy. It plans on 15 new stores, which range between 5,000 and 60,000 square feet, in the next 12 months, ChainLinks says.

An increasing focus on clothing is also insulating the industry.

“At their heart, most of these stores are actually apparel stores. And apparel’s been hit less by online sales than the hard-goods guys have,” Berndt said. “Apparels’ still growing across the board.”

Interactive displays and in-store programs, are also a big draw Brown said. Walk into a Bass Pro Shop, and you’ll be treated to a themed restaurant, giant aquarium and bowling alley.

“Talk about experiential,” Brown said. “They literally sell their own souvenir keychains at their shops. It’s basically an outdoorsman’s paradise they try to create.”

Discounter Sports Basement, based in San Francisco, recently opened its second South Bay location, a 40,000-square-foot store, at the Pruneyard shopping center in Campbell. The company plans to open a couple more stores in the Bay Area in the next year, including in Berkeley, where it recently purchased a historic ice rink.

Aaron Schweifler, director of operations, said the company has scored a big hit with community events and rentals. He said stores do an average of five events a day – from Zumba classes to cartooning workshops and fun-run meetups, and can rent hundreds of skis a day during the season.